Star Blue Jays first baseman/DH Edwin Encarnacion is facing a civil suit from a woman who claims that he knowingly infected her with sexually transmitted diseases, as TMZ recently reported. The unsettling allegations can be found here, courtesy of the Toronto Star. Encarnacion’s representatives have strongly denied any wrongdoing, with agent Paul Kinzer calling the lawsuit “frivolous,” as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. At this time, there is no indication either that a criminal investigation relating to the claims is being pursued, or that Major League Baseball will undertake its own investigation into the matter. One of the game’s best hitters, the 33-year-old Encarnacion is slated to become a heavily-pursued free agent at the end of the season.
More from the American League:
- There was some good news on the injury front for the Blue Jays, as Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports. Second baseman Devon Travis needed a cortisone shot to address a hand injury, but is expected to be ready to go today. And slugger Jose Bautista may return from his knee sprain tomorrow, which is the first date he’d be eligible to come off of the 15-day DL. That’s great news for the Jays and the veteran outfielder, who ought to have a nice stretch of time available to burnish his free agent credentials. Bautista is putting up an above-average .222/.349/.444 batting line in his 355 plate appearances on the year, but that’s well off of his usual production levels and this is his second stint on the disabled list.
- Renewed talks between the Angels and the city of Anaheim on a new lease arrangement for Angels Stadium are off to something of a rocky start, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. While the Halos organization had objected to the construction of a 15-acre, multi-use development project that will be raised next to the ballpark’s parking lot. Despite the team’s claim that the complex would compete with the stadium’s own concessions — and, therefore, “fundamentally undermine the Angels’ negotiations to remain in Anaheim over the long term” — the Anaheim Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve it. Final approval still must be obtained from city council, and it’s still unclear just how much of an impediment this matter will prove to be, but it seems that the Angels and the city still have some differences to smooth out.
- While the Rangers lost their third straight ballgame yesterday, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News finds a ray of hope: the performance of starter Derek Holland. In his first outing since June 20, the southpaw allowed just one earned run on four hits and a walk, striking out five over six solid frames that required only 73 pitches. When Texas ended up foregoing a starting staff upgrade at the trade deadline, it left the middle and back of its rotation somewhat exposed. But Grant wonders whether Holland might be able not only to solidify things down the stretch, but also win the third spot in a hypothetical but hopeful playoff rotation.
EE is going through a classic case of extortion here
How the hell do you know he’s being Extorted. Maybe, maybe not but you know how these sports figures roll. They think they can get away with anything.
Blanket statements are never good.
Neither are they in defense of, just because they are “sports figures”.
“Bautista is putting up an above-average .222/.349/.444 batting line in his 355 plate appearances on the year, but that’s well off of his usual production levels and this is his second stint on the disabled list.”
That’s above-average? Could there be a typo in that sentence? Looking at that slash line reminds me of a random all-glove, no-bat middle infielder who comes as a defensive replacement in the 8th inning for a team protecting a lead.
Well, the average slash line in the MLB in 2016 is .256/.322/.419, so judging by OPS, Bautista’s offensive production is above average. The batting line for right fielders is .260/.331/.441, so he even outperforms most of them (again, if you go by the OPS). It’s just the batting average that makes it look bad.
Anyway, I am really curious to see what Bautista will get in the offseason. With his injuries, defensive struggles and offensive decline it will be hard to get anything close to what he asked from the Blue Jays at the start of this season.
I think he is destined to fall into the same fate as Josh Hamilton, Arod, Fielder, Big Panda, etc… Meaning fans will be excited this offseason that their team signed him. Then sometime over the course of his contract he will become an albatross.
I thought that at the start of the year, but with the season he has had one mlb team has dodged that bullet.
the difference is that Josh, ARod, P:rince, Panda etc were all a lot younger. Bautista turns 36 in Oct. Is it really smart to give him a long term deal?
nobody’s signing him to a contract near the lengthy of those guys got. I think it’ll be shorter deal with high avv. and as an angel fan I can’t see any contract being as bad as hamiltons lol.
“That’s above-average?”
Yup. Nearly an .800 OPS. The league average is .740. The batting average is low, but there’s a reason you don’t focus on it too much.
He’s been exactly that, a reserve level offensive contributor. You see it in articles on here often, amazingly average stat lines overblown with unnecessary adjectives.
LOL, I caught that myself.
Folks, that batting line — average/on-base/slugging — equates to a park-adjusted 114 wRC+. That is to say, 14% above league-average.
The batting average is below-average, but he has still delivered enough walks and power to produce at a higher overall offensive rate than the average batter.
That’s what teams are getting from their “random all-glove, no-bat middle infielders”? Not really, no.
an avg wRC+ in MLB is 100, Bautista’s is presently at 114 this season, so yeah 14% above avg.
eta: dagnabbit, guess I shoulda read Jeff’s post before I ran my yap!
Don’t look at batting average, it’s an overrated stat
Teams would be falling all over themselves to get an “all-glove” middle infielder that puts up a .793 OPS.
I wish they would go back to the California Angels. They could move anywhere in the state if they do that.
Their TV contract requires they be called Los Angeles…….
Oh didn’t know that.
And their stadium contract requires them to be called “Anaheim”
And “California Angels” is a ridiculously non-specific name for a team trying to build its regional identity.
Well an even more confusing regional identity is being identified as two different places. Los Angeles? Or Anaheim?
Was there a misprint when it was stated that Bautista’s batting average was “above” normal at .222? Sounds ridiculously low to me!
i think the writer when he says average it refers to batting line, not to batting avg. Good reading !!!
Ya bautistas line is above average
Los Angeles/Anaheim county really don’t need anymore stadiums/arenas
EE has an STD? Noooooooooooo……lol.
If you’re quick, you might be able to file jointly with the current plaintiff.
I got it from Magic though
Compete with their concessions?? What a complete joke. LA live has really hurt the Lakers and Clippers, hasn’t it. If anything it will draw fans to games having restaurants and bars next to the stadium. As time goes by it looks more and more like the LA Angels of Anaheim world series was pure blind luck. I actually feel bad for their fans.
Just another excuse from the Angels. Anaheim knows Arte is too cheep to build his own stadium, and he can’t get someone else to pay for it. The land is more valuable without the stadium, so they can play hardball.
You can argue that the Angels organization is the worst in all the MLB.
yeah I actually agree that development around the stadium would attract fans. I would love it if it were like a downtown area. But before you call another teams ring luck…win one
Let’s be honest here. While Bautista has been a great player the past 5 years or so, he’s looking for to much money. He won’t give the Jays a hometown discount and he wants HUGE money. He has lost value by having an off year plus DL stints. I’m going to guess the Jays let him walk.
I don’t think he’s delusional enough to think he’s going to get huge money on the market after the year he’s had (barring a very strong finish), at his age. His ceiling is probably no more than 3/60 at this point.
Hey writer it’s 2016. Think the proper term is STI
STI and STD’s are different things.
“Edwin – you pissed clean for PED’s, but….”
Ok, can we all agree to stop talking about moving the A’s out of the Bay Area and talk more about moving the Angels to Portland or Brooklyn or wherever instead???
All that would do is de-value the Angels as a franchise.
move from the #2 TV market to Portland, which is #24?
Being in the #2 tv market didn’t seem to have any NFL teams wanting to play there for all those years, that’s not a valid reason.
he doenst need a reason. Southern California is a way bigger market than Portland in every department
NFL teams don’t have local/regional TV contracts they rely on except for maybe one or two pre season games. Jacksonville earns as much the the TV money as Dallas or Chicago. But in MLB, the big market teams make FAR more TV money than KC, Tampa or Cincinnati. Two different situations.
Man, what a bad year for Bautista, not only did he get clobbered by Odor, and (unrelatedly) have to go on the DL twice, but he forgot how to use a bat… Welcome to pre-2010 Jose
He forgot how to use a bat so much that now he only produces a 114 wRC+.